It can refer to: The Dissident Republican Movement itself consists of multiple movements: The term was in use at least as early as 1949 when Criostóir O'Neill, the vice president of Sinn Féin, gave a speech at Bodenstown Graveyard: The Republican movement is divided into two main bodies – the Military and the Civil Arms, the Irish Republican Army and Sinn Féin.
Bowyer Bell, in The Secret Army, uses the term throughout to refer to the several organisations associated with the IRA in the 1960s and beyond.
For instance, in chapter XVII he says: "But beneath the smooth patina applied by MacGiolla, The Republican movement seethed with bitter faction and the advanced rot of despair."
Specifically mentioned in relation to this are Sinn Féin, Clan na Gael in America, the United Irishman and the National Graves Association.
[15] Robert White states in the early 1980s Sinn Fein was the junior partner in the relationship with the IRA, and they were separate organisations despite there being some overlapping membership.